Workers suffering from stress and depression should be 'fast-tracked for treatment over the elderly and unemployed'

Workers with depression or anxiety should be fast-tracked for NHS treatment ahead of pensioners and the unemployed with the same conditions, according to the chief medical officer.

Professor Dame Sally Davies said the working days lost when men and women are off sick with mental health issues cost the economy £100 billion a year.

She also urged employers to make it easier for staff who have been on long-term sick leave to come back to work by starting them off on reduced hours.

Around 70 million working days are lost because of stress, anxiety and other mental health conditions each year, a rise of a quarter since 2009.

But campaigners warned that her proposals risked discriminating against pensioners, stay-at-home mothers and the unemployed. 

They claimed that it would undermine one of the founding principles of the NHS, which is that it ‘provides a comprehensive service available to all’, promoting equality by focusing on patients’ clinical need rather than their personal circumstances. 

In a report published today, Dame Sally called on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the NHS watchdog, to weigh up the costs of allowing workers with depression or anxiety to be fast-tracked for treatment.

‘The costs of mental illness to the economy are astounding,’ she said.

‘I urge commissioners and decision-makers to treat mental health more like physical health.

‘Anyone with mental illness deserves good quality support at the right time.

 

‘One of the stark issues highlighted in this report is that 60 to 70 per cent of people with common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety are in work, so it is crucial that we take action to help those people stay in employment to benefit their own health as well as the economy.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was likely that NICE would be in favour of such a policy.

Dame Sally did not indicate whether full-time workers should be prioritised over those who work part-time. But it would follow that their costs to the economy would be far higher if they were off sick.

However, Jenny Edwards, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation said: ‘Whilst we recognise the benefit of good quality work to mental health we are concerned about the suggestion to focus the fast-tracking of care on people of working age who are at risk of falling out of work.

‘A health service that is free at the point of delivery should “fast-track” all and not discriminate in favour of those who are economically active.

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Around 70 million working days are lost because of stress, anxiety and other mental health conditions each year, a rise of a quarter since 2009 (file picture) 

‘We consider that there must be an investment in establishing a suite of evidence-based solutions to mental ill health and support mental well-being, particularly targeted where there are the greatest inequalities.’

As many as 23 per cent of women and 16 per cent of men are suffering from depression or anxiety at any one time, according to NHS figures.

It is thought the number of men with the conditions could be higher, because men can be less inclined to admit they have a problem and avoid seeing their doctor.

Professor Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: ‘We endorse the chief medical officer’s call for employment becoming a routine outcome indicator for mental health services – an outcome that has real world relevance and is simple to collect.

‘We also agree that more support is needed to keep those who are at risk of losing their jobs from joining the ranks of the long term sick.'

Source:- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2748604/Workers-given-priority-old-treatment-depression-It-cut-100bn-sick-day-bill-says-chief-medical-officer.html

Men shouldn’t suffer in silence with depression and anxiety

My dad killed himself and, having struggled with feelings myself, I want to make sure I deal with them properly. You should too

‘Things always change, as long as you give them the chance to.’ Photograph: Alamy

I was 24 when my dad, Peter Manderson, took his own life. We had a troubled relationship and hadn’t spoken to each other for about six years; for no real reason we just stopped. Then one day I got in touch to try and repair some of the damage. It was Boxing Day and we argued over the phone about where to meet. I got angry, and my dad, who was a gentle man, stammered and stuttered. The last words I said to him were: “If I ever see you again I’m going to knock you out.” It all seems so desperately trivial now.
The tragic last hours of Robin Williams’ life have been raked over in minute detail over the past week. Susan Schneider, his wife, has said he was battling depression and anxiety, as well as the early stages of Parkinson’s.
I still don’t know what was going through my dad’s mind when he killed himself in a park not far from where he lived in Brentwood, Essex, in April 2008. I’ll never know. The last time I saw him alive was my 18th birthday. He had been in and out of my life for years. I was brought up by my gran in Hackney, east London, because neither of my parents were capable of looking after me. I just wish that he could have reached out to someone, anyone.
The moment I found out my dad had killed himself is as clear today as it was when it happened. That morning I woke up with a sense of dread knowing that something was very wrong. My gran came into my room with tears in her eyes and said: “Stephen, your dad’s dead. He’s hanged himself.”
His death was a complete shock and it’s still a struggle to articulate how I felt. I went through so many emotions that day. At first I was angry with him for doing what he did. I kept thinking, how could he take himself away from me? Williams’ daughter Zelda said something similar about her dad: “I’ll never understand how he could be so loved and not find it in his heart to stay.”
I thought my dad was selfish for taking the easy way out. But then I quickly realised that I was the one who was being selfish for thinking he was selfish. For someone to be able to do that, I don’t think it is cowardice; it’s the only solution they think they have. The last thing I said to him kept replaying in my head – you have no idea how much I regret that the final words he heard from me were anger and hate. I would give anything to change that. I never got a chance to say a proper goodbye or tell him that I loved him.
Last year in Britain, almost 6,000 people killed themselves, leaving behind families struggling for answers. Men aged between 30 and 44 are most at risk. My dad was 43. I later found out that one of his brothers had killed himself two years before and that another brother, whom I am named after, is believed to have died after allowing himself to fall into a diabetic coma.
Communication is a big problem with us men. We don’t like to talk about our problems; we think it makes us look weak. There have been times when I’ve suffered from anxiety and depression. I even had cognitive behavioural therapy and although that didn’t work for me, I did find that talking about things to someone helped the problem seem smaller than it was in my head. It’s important to let things out and not bottle them up.
Society likes to tell you that you have to be happy all the time, and it’s easy to think that if you’re not happy then there’s something wrong with you. But happiness isn’t permanent, it’s not something you can feel all the time – and neither is sadness.
What happened to my dad and uncles makes me want to deal with things. As much as I love my dad, I don’t want to be the father to my child that he was to me. I wrote the song Lullaby about my experience of depression and how it has affected my life. The most important lyrics are the final two lines: “Things always change, as long as you give them the chance to.”
Know that is true. I just wish my dad did.

Source:-  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/20/men-suffer-depression-anxiety